Doctors don't know what causes Crohn's disease. You may get it when the body's immune system has an abnormal response to normal bacteria in your intestine. Other kinds of bacteria and viruses may also play a role in causing the disease. Crohn's disease can run in families. Your chances of getting it are higher if a close family member has it. People of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish family background may have a higher chance of getting Crohn's disease.

This is the question most often asked, but unfortunately the answer is still not known. It is likely that several factors work together. There may be an inherited predisposition that places an individual at higher risk of developing IBD. Research among families with more than one affected member will be important in discovering what accounts for this predisposition. Some trigger in the environment sets up the inflammation, and in the predisposed individual this does not go away.

Crohn's disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Parts of the digestive tract get swollen and have deep sores called ulcers. Crohn's disease usually is found in the last part of the small intestine and the first part of the large intestine. But it can develop anywhere in the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus.

A malfunction in the immune system is certainly a part of Crohn's disease. This may be an inability to "turn off" the immune system after it "turns on" for an appropriate reason. Or, the immune system may "turn on" for the wrong reason. Immunosuppressive medications used to keep individuals from rejecting transplanted organs have been shown to be effective in treating Crohn's disease. These factors have led many researchers to characterize Crohn's disease as autoimmune.

Crohn's disease is very rarely life threatening. Normally, Crohn's disease is a chronic, lifelong illness characterized by sporadic flare-ups separated by periods of remission. Occasionally, a complication such as a severe abscess or a large fistula connecting the intestine to another internal organ can set the stage for a life-threatening infection. In addition, Crohn's disease may require surgery; all surgical procedures involve the risk of life-threatening complications.

Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and do a physical exam. You may also have X-rays and lab tests to find out if you have Crohn's. Barium X-rays of the small intestine or colon. In this test, you will drink a white liquid to coat the inside of your intestine so that the doctor can see it more clearly on an X-ray. Colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy. In these tests, the doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside the colon. Biopsy.

Having Crohn's disease can be stressful. The disease affects every part of your life. Seek support from family and friends to help you cope. Get counseling if you need it. Many people with inflammatory bowel diseases look to alternative treatments to improve their well-being. These treatments have not been proven effective for Crohn's disease, but they may help you cope. They include massage, supplements such as vitamins D and B12, and herbs like aloe and ginseng.

The cause of Crohn's disease is unknown. Studies suggest that this and other inflammatory bowel diseases may result from an abnormal response by the body's immune system to normal intestinal bacteria.1 Disease-causing bacteria and viruses also may play a role in causing the condition. Crohn's disease can run in families, so some people may be more likely than others to develop the condition when exposed to something that triggers an immune reaction.

It is estimated that up to 1.4 million Americans may be affected with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Of those people, 500,000 have Crohn's disease. Gastroenterologists diagnose Crohn's disease in men and women of all ages — including people in their seventies and eighties; however, the majority of cases are diagnosed before age 30 in men and women of Northern Europe and North America. Studies have shown that family history may play a role in the patterns of diagnosis of Crohn's disease.

Depending on the severity of the disease, some patients need to restrict their diet all the time, others just some of the time, and still others may eat a normal, unrestricted diet. Avoiding a large number of foods can lead to disinterest in eating due to boredom, which can lead to reduced energy levels and subsequent weight loss.

There are many theories about what causes Crohn's disease, but none has been proven. One theory is that some agent, perhaps a virus or a bacterium, affects the body's immune system to trigger an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal wall. Although there is a lot of evidence that patients with this disease have abnormalities of the immune system, doctors do not know whether the immune problems are a cause or a result of the disease.

The level of discomfort varies with the activity of the disease. For most people, both barium enema and sigmoidoscopy entail some discomfort, but little pain. These tests can be painful, however, for a person experiencing a flare-up. A colonoscopy is a more painful procedure. Because of that, doctors use a combination of a sedative and a painkiller, known as "conscious anesthesia," when performing this procedure.

Statistical evidence does show that people with Crohn's disease have a slightly higher incidence of colon cancer than the general population does. For this reason, doctors begin regularly screening those with Crohn's disease about 12 years after diagnosis if the disease is confined to the small intestine, and eight years after diagnosis if there is disease in the colon.